gaia-5.jpg (1994) Scultura da Ebony Easter

“Gaia”
“Gaia” is a sculpture of a woman who stands 2ft 10in tall in the “Goddess Position”. She began with the intention to represent the concept of “Victory” as she is depicted in a “standing V” pose. I first designed “Gaia” in newsprint in the form of a hand drawn pencil sketch. I did not add any color to the sketch. Her construction began with nothing more than three pieces of wrought iron pre-welded together to form a frame with one rod going down the middle, one piece a welded across a few inches down and one piece welded across further down the middle rod. I bent the frame in a vice grip to form a “skeleton” with shoulders and arms for the top bar and hips and legs for the bottom bar. I fastened two .5 in width wooden dowels to the bottom front and back to form a sort of Quadra-pod which would become the bottom skirt of her flowing gown.
“Gaia” was formed by wrapping cotton twine around the vertices of the frame and dowels, in addition to building up her face, hair, bosom and hands with papier mache. Wooden skewers would become her fingers with hopsacking and cotton fabric dipped in thick plaster to form as her gown and flowing sleeves. With plaster being the surface medium used she was not expected to cultivate a very smooth surface. However with patience and constant smoothing with water her arms and face took on a soft appearance wholly contributing to her goddess-like beauty.
Originally, “Gaia” was painted black acrylic mixed with magenta and green to develop a sort of charcoal opaque appearance. I created her in 1994, my senior year at Edison High School and she won first place at the Big Fresno Fair that year even though my art teacher accidentally tore some paint off of her chest when he removed a “Do Not Touch” sign form her just before judging. I repaired the damage and she remained darkly colored until I had an artistic awakening about 7 years later. I felt inspired to give her some color. I had discovered the pose she was standing in while reading about goddesses in the encyclopedia at the local library. I learned that this “standing V” position she was in was indeed called the goddess position. Having harbored a deep love for Ireland and all things Irish I decided to paint her hues of blue…the colors of water and sky…and call her “Gaia”.
Although “in Greek mythology, Gaia (/ˈɡeɪ.ə/ or /ˈɡaɪ.ə/ from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of Γῆ Gē, "land" or "earth"), also spelled Gaea, is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities,” I was quite fascinated with the concept of “Banba” or the Irish knowledge that the land of Ireland was actually the body of the mother Goddess and known in the Greek Mythology. My brother had recently gifted me a necklace with a turquoise blue stone in the center of a Celtic knot it was called the “Banba Shield”. The blue stone inspired her new, permanent color.